Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-03-31
STAGE THUNDER.
Some OF the Devices Employed for
Producing II by Prominent Actors.

made by a cannon ball sent rolling
from the roof of the theater through
an inclined trough which ended in a
funnel In this funnel projected nu-
merous bristlc wooden ''profiles," or
pegs. When the heavy iron ball came
laundering down this funnel, crashing
and breaking the wood, it sounded as
if the house was tumbling. Thunder
made Forrest warm up to his work,
especially as King Lear, a play in
which the boys kept the balls rolling
very lively during the third act. Often
bach made Calchas shake thin sheet
of iron, in imitation of Jupiter Olympus,
and that way of making thunder is
used now in south Europe. The Saxon
idea of thunder, which mythology tells
us was made by Thor throwing his
hammer from Walhalla and finally
striking something, brought different
sounds to the ear than that shaken out
from a sheet of tin or iron. And the
final thud and crash is made now in
Germany by the rafting of tin first and
the breaking Of thin pine board by a
cobblestone hurled by the scene-shifter,
The late Mr.. L. L. Davenport once
said that tho finest thunder he had
heard was one Of these gentlemen tum-
bling down very rickety stair, and
breaking each step as he bounced down
nd h.
his thunder is manufactured, but he
likes it best when il grumbles in the far
distance on bass drum, ending with
one or two mighty peals of sharp,
cracking noises at precise points in his
business. Keene, on the contrary likes
it sharp, loud, and plenty of it.
Nine. Janauschek likes her thunder
done in the flies by n ball rolling from
wing to wing gently, and at times the
prompter rattles a long piece of sheet
iron, with a handle, two OF three times
right at the audience. This, the ma
dame thinks, gives the effect of storm,
which comes on, and finally breaks
over her. The prompter, with prompt
book in one hand. shaking the thunder
sheet in the other. is usually the only
funny thing in madame's performance.
The trouble with storm lingering or
mumbling thunder is that it sounds
more like an express wagon driving
over a very bad pavement. Mr.. W. H.
Gillette uses gentle thunder to imi-
tate coming carriage, and has stone
wherein one of the boys beats gallop
with steel horseshoe. Charles Fech-
ter finally adopted the Foster rumbling
and final crash. When he fell through
stage trap, some years before he
died, and hurt himself severely, it is
said he thought the noise he made was
an excellent article of thunder, but
doubted if he could get q substitute.
He was very much liked by the stage
hands wherever he went, and putting
up" a key of beer for them was not Il
very unusual occurrence.
When Lewis Morrison brought out his
"Faust" at the Chicago Columbia thea
ter, he used all the known ways of raising
thunder in the Walpurgis yacht scene.
More than a hundred supers were hired
to rattle tin sheets from all conceived.
BILE places. Charlotte Cushmap cared
nothing for the quality of her thunder,
but she wanted the quantity as bolster
Gus as she could get it. and wished the
thundermakers to pause at each thun.
der-clap in Meg Merrilies" just long
enough for her to say her lines. She
didn't care for much lightning.
At the Lyceum theater thunder is
made by rolling a stone bowlGer down
a trough, in the bottom of which arc
nailed strips of wood. In the storm
gathered in Met by Chance" this
thunder was very effective, accompan,
led rs it was by lighting. Several
glass tubes through which ran a wire
were stretched across the stage in zig
Gags and the electric flash sent through
which could be seen through the trans
parent glass, and the effect was made
more striking yet by throwing light,
obscured by dark, threatening clouds
painted on the glass; this was rejected
on the drop, aud gave the background
the appearance of a moving mass o
rain-laden clouds. In THE Brook
the Salisbury Troubadours heightel
the effect by perforated water-pipo il
the flies, through which the waite
sprinkled on the stage, but the tbun
der and tightening are tame, as the,
wish to appear surprised by a passing
summer shower. James A. Herne was
however, the first to introduce rain Of
the stage, in Hearts of Oak"
A very good effect of Lightning is thu
forked streak of fire which blinds MI
Wilson Barrett in his clever imperson
alton of Claudian. but the device
not new. 1t is done in the same man
. ner by Stage Manager Waldron, VIII
produces a like effect in clio" Magne
stun is sometimes used for flash light
ming, and powdered resin blow
: through quill over the flame OF car
$ die is also frequently used. A cote
, ball saturated with alcohol and throw
from the flies was used in the produC
: ton of John Howard Payne's "Brl
0 tus," and the ball was hurled at th
statue of Tarquin.
S The use of alcohol. however, is a.
tended with rather serious danger no
!. and again. Indeed, some years ago a
4 actor named Walter Benn was playin
o in small town in western New Yorl
5 and found it necessary to produce ligh
, ming effect in the piece. Mr.. Benn, b
ing what is called IAN old-timer,
$ knew but little about the modern wa
C of producing the electric fluid. so ha
recourse to the primitive cotton al
}, alcohol method. Before the curta
went up he intrusted the balls of CO
Il ton and the bottle Of alcohol to the Gu
a tain boy, with instructions to satura
e, them, and after lighting them to pitt
n them in quick succession across Il
10 Ha 1arstrpot tuYir